http://www.ralphfletcher.com/teacher.html

Overview of Workshop, adapted from Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide by Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi

I. Time and Space

Sample Schedule for 90 minutes Reading and Writing Workshop:

  • 5 minute bellringer/engaging warm-up

  • 5-10 minute Tier II vocabulary preview

(could take place of bellringer in some cases)

  • 10-15 minute reading mini-lesson

  • 15-30 minute reading workshop: guided/independent reading practice with literature circle and/or MIRP books

(reading conferences and flexible groups take place during this time)

  • 10-15 minute word-study

  • 10-15 minute grammar or craft mini-lesson

  • 15-30 minute writing workshop

(writing conferences and flexible groups take place during this time)

  • 5-10 minute small group or whole group sharing


Space Considerations for Workshop:

  • Whole Group

  • Small-Group

  • Conferences

II. Launching the Workshop "A Writer is someone who makes decisions....How will you begin?" (35).

  • Model Writer's/Reader's Notebook

  • Prototype of Writing Folder

  • Students Create a Writing Inventory

  • Classroom Norms for writing, reading, sharing, thinking

  • Diagnostic Assessments for flexible groups, such as the BEAR inventory and reading and writing pre-assessments

  • Teaching Students to become Rhetorically Aware:

    • The author does_to................I can use in my writing to__.

III.Writing Conferences: "The HEART of the Writing Workshop!" (48).

Peer Conferences

Below is a document from teacherweb.com that can be modified for use in the classroom for peer conferences:

Good writers separate composing from transcription:

Revision
Editing


Change lead
Spelling
Resequence
Punctuation
Add a section
Paragraphing
Prune/Cut
Capital Letters
Focus on a part

Student-Teacher Conferences

Conference Sheets include student, date, topic/piece discussed, possible mini-lessons/flexible groups for follow-up

http://www.strategicwritingconferences.com/faqs.aspx

IV.The Writing Cycle

  • Prewriting is perhaps the MOST important and most neglected part of the process...

  • Drafting
  • Revising
  • Editing
  • Publishing

V. Mentor Texts

Excerpts from literature circle texts, short stories, plays, films, primary sources, historical documents, blogs, newspaper articles, websites, science and technical articles, photographs, artwork, read-alouds, picture books, etc.

VI. Standards and Skills

Formative Assessments and tracking of skill mastery through word-study work, reading conferences, writing conferences, mini-lesson tasks, exit slips, etc.

V. Assessment and Evaluation

See Figure 9-1 on page 110

Appendixes